


something of value

by wafflelate



Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gardens, Gen, Kisame Counts As A Shark, Kisame-centric, Mentions of Momochi Zabuza
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 00:19:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19073653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wafflelate/pseuds/wafflelate
Summary: Kisame meets an imposter and takes a slightly different path.





	something of value

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mornelithe_falconsbane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mornelithe_falconsbane/gifts).



At first glance Kisame thinks that it really is Momochi Zabuza. The details on the henge are right — whoever’s created the illusion has spent a decent amount of time with Momochi — and he’s being pursued by a half dozen Kiri hunter nin, so clearly _they’re_ fooled. But then the Zabuza-lookalike turns to fight and uses water whip... using water that definitely seems to have been come from out of nowhere. 

A seal, probably, and maybe that’s a trick Zabuza has picked up since leaving Kiri, but Kisame is sure that Zabuza has never bothered with _water whip_ in his entire life. And the more Kisame sees him use it, the more Kisame is sure there’s something subtly _wrong_ with the jutsu. 

More to the point: the real Zabuza would have drawn Kubikiribōchō. 

Kisame muses absently about what kind of idiot would pick Zabuza’s appearance and continues to watch the fight, trying to see if he can pick out any tells for their usual style or at least catch a look at the moron’s face after the hunter nin kill them but before the body is destroyed. 

And then the Zabuza lookalike turns and stares straight at him. Shouts, “Duck!” and for his inattention to his own opponents gets speared through the chest by two swords. 

Kisame doesn’t even see the imposter’s body drop because it turns out the other six members of the squad had circled around and snuck up on him and following the order to duck had kept them from taking his head clean off his shoulders — but then Kisame is fighting for his life against six opponents at once, and there’s no time to pay attention to what else is going on near by. 

Mostly what he’s thinking is that if the imposter’s body is still in one piece and not reduced to ash when he’s done here, maybe he’ll go through the trouble of burying the guy in thanks. But probably not. Gratitude has never gotten Kisame anywhere worth going, especially gratitude to the dead. 

...Not that the guy is dead, it turns out, because just when Kisame is thinking that six opponents at once, plus whoever survives to jump in from the fight across the clearing might actually be a problem, there’s suddenly a new body in the fray, fighting at Kisame’s back. The imposter, not at all as dead as he should be, still wearing the Zabuza henge and weilding a sword that looks like Kubikiribōchō but from the cuts it makes is definitely shorter and possibly not made of metal at all. 

Kisame tries, very politely, not to judge the stranger’s sword technique. It’s all wrong, but then it’s also definitely not a Kiri sword style by any stretch of the imagination — and Kisame isn’t usually concerned with being fair to foreign styles or considerate of other people’s upbringings, but it seems especially foolish to be overly-critical of a sword style that’s currently being used to save your bacon. 

When all the hunter nin are down, Kisame and his temporary fighting partner retreat to either side of the clearing to eye each other warily. Or, Kisame is eyeing the imposter warily. 

The imposter is waving at him cheerfully. The imposter is saying, “Sorry for the trouble. You know how it is, though, one minute you’re helping a nice guy get his cart back on the road, the next minute six rude hunter nin are after you...” The imposter trails off. 

Kisame has never helped anyone get a cart back on the road, but he has been interrupted in the middle of a wide variety of other tasks, so yes. He knows how it goes. If putting carts back on the road regularly led to fights, though, Kisame would definitely corner that market. But it doesn’t, so Kisame can’t imagine why a guy who fights as well as this one does bothered. 

“How did they ever mistake you for Zabuza?” Kisame asks instead of addressing the whole cart thing directly. Ninja don’t like to be directly questioned about their weirdass quirks. 

The imposter shrugs. “That’s just one of life’s mysteries.” 

What an annoying guy. 

And the disguise isn’t really endearing him to Kisame, either. Sure, disguises are often _necessary_ , but that doesn’t mean Kisame _likes_ thm. He always chooses to look exactly like himself as much as possible — despite the trouble being so very strange and conspicuous always gets him — because there’s no point in trying to lie about his appearance. Kisame can cover up his scales and gills, but they’re still there. They’ll always be there. 

“Looking to frame Zabuza for something?” Kisame hazards. 

“Sure, something like that,” the imposter says — and then he laughs, a choked sound just a step away from a _giggle_. There are some sounds Kisame never wanted to imagine Momochi Zabuza making, and this is definitely right up there on that list. 

Kisame says, “I’m sure he’ll appreciate it,” with a heavy layer of sarcasm and is unfortunately rewarded with more laughter. 

“You’re making it sound so nefarious,” says the imposter. “But it’s just a prank. Probably one that should be over now, since the hunter nin have shown up. Ah, oh well.” 

The imposter reaches around to her back and there’s a spark of chakra, like a seal being released, that has Kisame bringing Samehada up — but all that happens is the imposter’s disguise slipping away like a fading genjutsu. 

It’s a girl. Thirteen, maybe fourteen, with her dark hair pulled up in a long braid. She's wearing nondescript clothing, no weapons pouches, and no sword. She says, "It was great while it lasted. And nice to meet you, Hoshigaki-san!" 

Then she waves. And leaves. 

Kisame should definitely leave the area, but... well, he's so damn _curious_ , and the girl didn't actually give him any answers. How had she benefited from running around as Zabuza? How had she benefited from helping fix some guy's cart? There probably isn't another full hunter nin squad in the area, so Kisame wanders in the direction the girl and her enemies had come from until he finds the cart in question. 

It's accompanied by two spooked horses and a civilian man who's sitting on a log just off the road, his head in his hands. One of the wheels on the wagon is missing. A new wheel sits next to it, but Kisame supposes that a civilian probably would have trouble lifting the fully-loaded wagon in order to get the wheel on. 

When Kisame deliberately scuffs his foot on the ground to announce his presence, the man looks up, briefly hopeful. He says, "Oh, good, you're—" and then cuts off when he notices that Kisame isn't who he thought it would be. He wilts again. Shrinks back with fear. "That guy who was helping me is dead, isn't he?" He actually looks upset. 

Civilians are so delicate. 

"He's fine, but he won't be coming back," Kisame says, reluctantly, which at least makes the civilian stop looking at Kisame like Kisame might eat him. 

Sounding exhausted and resigned, the civilian rubs his face hard and then asks, "Well, will _you_ help me get this damn wheel on and make it to town? I'll buy you room and board at the inn there for the night." 

"Only if you tell me about the ninja who was helping you before," Kisame barters. His intel gathering skills aren't the best, but he knows better than to expect information for free. Helping fix a wagon isn't thrilling and Kisame would prefer a fight, but it will give him a chance to find out what that girl was doing and free room and board for the night is nothing to turn his nose up at, either. 

The man agrees without bartering in return, which figures because Kisame can walk away from this transaction and he can't. 

Kisame walks over to the corner of the wagon nearest to the broken wheel, crouches, and lifts. It takes more than a little chakra, but Kisame has that to spare. "Talk," he demands, even as the man rushes to replace the old wheel with the new wheel. 

From the man's nervous but enthused babbling, Kisame learns that the Zabuza imposter has been in this area for two and a half weeks performing D- and C-rank work for barter, trade, and occasionally pro-bono. It's a long, long list. So long that the imposter can't have actually done any _real_ work while they were here, just errands and favors and chores. reshaping irrigation ditches and finding lost sheep and clearing out gutters. Fetching groceries and delivering letters. 

The recap of everything that the imposter did in the area takes so long, in fact, that it doesn't end until they're sitting down at the inn, at which point the woman serving them says, "Oh, you're Momochi-san's friend? Well, a friend of his is a friend of ours. First round is on me." She sets the drinks down and leaves. 

Kisame tests his drink for poison, just to be sure, but it's exactly what it should be. Kisame eyes the civilians around him suspiciously. "He can't have made much money," Kisame mutters. "What was the point?" 

The civilian man sitting across from him laughs. "Maybe you'll just have to try things his way to understand," the man says. "I think he had a whole list of things around here somewhere that he didn't get to." 

In a few days, there will be several powerful ninja loitering at the border of Rain and River waiting for Kisame to show up and complete his interview for their apparently very exclusive, very well-paid organization. And Kisame does intend to be there — it sounds better than anything else he's got going, and it should give him a break from the Kiri hunter nin. 

On the other hand... it probably wouldn't hurt to be a few days late. 


End file.
